Guidelines for Attending an In-Person Sunday Service

  • All who wish to attend a Sunday Service must read and accept these guidelines, then must make a reservation (see below). Only those with reservations will be allowed to participate in In-Person Services. Walk-ins will not be permitted. You must make reservations for every Sunday you wish to attend.
  • Everyone who participates in the in-person Sunday Services is required to wear a face mask that covers the nose and mouth, even those who are fully vaccinated, and maintain physical distancing.
  • For safety purposes, the bathrooms will not be available for those attending the Services, so please plan accordingly.
  • There will be no congregating in the church to socialize either before or after the Services.
  • The name, email address, and phone number of each attendee will be kept on file for possible contact tracing purposes.

 

FAQs: (Frequently Asked Questions)

Who is not eligible to attend an in-person Sunday Service?

If you have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have not been cleared by your doctor; if you have been in close contact (in the past 10 days) of someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19; if you have symptoms related to COVID-19 or are not feeling well; you are not eligible to attend an in-person Sunday Service at Good Shepherd. Please continue to participate in our Good Shepherd Facebook Live Sunday Service at 10:00am, until the above no longer apply.

 

How does one make a reservation?

If you are eligible to attend one of the In-Person Services, and you wish to participate in a particular Sunday Service, you will need to email Pastor Dan (pastor.dan.bernier@gmail.com) to let him know which In-Person Sunday Service you are interested in attending. Please email your request from the Monday to the Thursday before the Sunday you would like to attend. Your name(s) will be added to a list of all those parishioners who would like to attend the 8:00 or 10:00 Sunday Service. You must do this every week when you wish to attend a Sunday Service.

Pastor Dan will send you an email to confirm your Sunday Service reservation on the Friday before the Sunday you would attend. Only those with a confirmed reservation for the particular 8:00 or 10:00 Sunday Service will be allowed into the church.

Once the attendance limit is reached, those still on the list will be given priority for the next Sunday.

If for some reason you cannot attend a Sunday Service for which you have a reservation, please let Pastor Dan know as soon as possible so another person can attend in your place.

 

How many people will be allowed to attend the in-person Service?

Thirteen pews will be used, with 2 persons per pew (one person at each end of the pew). Every other pew will be used. Those from the same household (up to 5 people from the same household) will be allowed to sit together in the same pew. In this case there could be more than two persons in the pew if the household has more than two people in attendance.

If there are only two people in each pew, the number of people allowed to attend will be 26. If there are groups from the same household this number can go higher, up to a maximum of 35 people in the church.

 

What should I expect when I attend an in-person Sunday Service?

Arrive no earlier than 15 minutes before the Service. Please do not be late, you will not be allowed into the building once the Service begins.

Maintain social distancing of 6 feet and wear a face mask from the time you exit your car until the time you get back to your car after the Service.

You are asked to enter the church from the main doors, the double doors that enter the church from the back of the sanctuary (worship space). You will not be permitted to enter through the parish office door.

When you arrive, you will be checked in, your temperature may be taken, you are asked to use hand sanitizer, and then you are asked to immediately find an open pew. If you are alone and enter an open pew first, you are asked to be seated at the far end of the pew near the wall, which allows the next person to be seated in the same pew without passing in front of you. Once you are seated, you are asked to stay at your seat until the Service is finished.

At the end of the Service you will be asked to leave the building starting from the back of the church, moving to the front of the church. Exiting through the double doors in the back of the sanctuary (worship space). No one is to exit through the parish office exit.

There is to be no congregating in the church, or just outside the doors of the church, after the Service. Once you leave the church, maintain social distancing until you get to your car. This allows people to safely exit the church and return to their cars without having to pass through people gathered in conversation.